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TULLA fundraiser extraordinaire, Kitty Leyden, is celebrating having hit the €100,000 fundraising mark by taking off for South Africa to- morrow to walk miles in the blister- ing sun to help sick children.

72 year old Kitty – who has raised the massive amount for charities over the last 25 years – says she is going to hang up her walking shoes after this trip.

But she admits, she’s said that be- fore!

Kitty will walk 60 kilometres in

Capetown to bring in money to fund equipment and research in Crumlin Children’s hospital in Dublin.

‘It’s bad enough to get sick in your 50’s or 60’s – at least you’ve lived and done things. But when you see these poor sick children, who have seen nothing of life yet.

‘The money people give so gener- ously is needed to keep these chil- dren alive’, said Kitty.

Kitty has raised €9,400 for this trip alone but her one regret about the trip is that she “can’t fly from Shannon – I have to go to Dublin’.

In her time, Kitty has raised money

for numerous causes through mara- thon step dancing, walking, organis- ing music sessions and even shavea- thons, one of which is coming up in December.

‘People and businesses have been sO very, very good to me. They’ve given me pennies when that was all they had and they all mount up and they’ve given me huge amounts as well. I remember when I started rais- ing money for Crumlin, a man from Tulla came up to me in the street and handed me €300 – I ran after him, I thought he had made a mistake, but he said no, that was what he was giv-

ing me.”

But even while she says she’s plan- ning to hang up her shoes, the deter- mined Tulla woman is plotting more fun and fund-generators.

She is organising a night in Novem- ber in Cois na hAbhanna in Ennis, where the Kilfenora Ceili Band have offered their services free of charge and the above-mentioned shaveathon will see several hairy sons of the soil have their limbs shaved.

“It’s all good fun and the important thing to remember are the people who need every penny we can raise”, SJ aTomcy BOR

ALARM, chaos and anger. That was the reaction among residents in Shan- non as word filtered through that the components of a bomb were discov- ered at a house in the town last week. The very idea that somebody in the town could consider, and worryingly, get their hands on such deadly equip- ment has caused grave concern.

Gardai have made no secret of the fact that this find was related to crim- inal activity in Limerick and was in- tended for use in the city. This is not the first time that concern in Shan- non in relation to Limerick has been aired in recent weeks.

The people of Shannon, through their elected representatives, have vehemently opposed the relocation of criminal elements from Limerick into Shannon. A debate by Shannon town councillors last month later danced its way into the national me- dia. The message was clear. Shannon would not play host to criminal ele- ments from Limerick.

A priest in Moyross took exception to comments from some councillors and wrote to Shannon Town Coun- cil to voice his concerns. But Shan- non councillors held firm: they will accept non-locals – as the town has regularly done for decades – but only those without criminal connections.

Troublemakers are not welcome.

Fuel was added to the fire when a riot broke out at a birthday party in a licensed premises in Shannon a number of weeks ago. Punches were thrown, glasses were fired at random and regulars at the pub were forced to flee for their own safety as all hell broke loose.

The people of Shannon do not want to see this type of activity in their back yards. People who have lived in the Slaney Park and Fergus Road housing estates for several years were scared when the area became a maze of Garda vans, patrol cars and detec- tive branch cars on Thursday night of last week.

They were initially unaware of what was going on. As the significance of it emerged, locals were horrified. Al- though reservations have been aired about unsavoury elements moving in to the area, nobody could have envis- aged what took hold last week.

As the Garda investigation into the startling discovery continues, lo- cal fears intensify; they are fearful that further incidents will take place in the immediate vicinity of their homes. The safety they have enjoyed in their homes for decades has been transformed to terrifying fear. As Limerick’s problems spread to Clare, it is the people of Shannon who are forced to bear the brunt.

THERE were a few years there when it looked as if the golden generation of Kilmurry Ibrickane footballers that were farmed and nurtured on Pairc Naomh Mhuire in Quilty were letting the best years of their sport- ing lives pass them by.

They were the supposed bluebloods — the most richly talented group of underage players ever produced by a club in the county, but a harvest that had failed to deliver ever since throwing away a glorious opportuni- ty to reach the All-Ireland Club final welt ey

That February day in Pearse Sta- dium, Kilmurry Ibrickane should have beaten Ballina Stephenites in the All-Ireland semi-final, but when they didn’t deliver on their All-Ire- land potential they seemed to stop delivering on their own stage back home in Clare.

Until October 19, 2008 that is.

This was the day that a band of brothers in green and red finally stood up and delivered a county title back to the barony of Ibrickane. It’s true that in the four years since their last championship success they’ve produced some stunning displays of “Total Football’, but as the Dutch found out in ’°74, ‘Total Football’ doesn’t necessarily win silverware.

The “Total Football’ came in the semi-final win over St Senan’s Kil- kee, but that counted for nothing

until the Jack Daly Cup was brought back to Mullagh, Coore and Quilty.

As captain Shane Hickey put it from Cusack Park’s Ard Comhairle when accepting the cup, “the Jack Daly has wandered around from parish to par- ish for the last four years but its back to where it belongs tonight”.

It was hard to argue when you con- sider that Kilmurry Ibrickane have been unbeaten this year. And, they’re not finished yet as the prospect of a Munster Club final appearance opens out before them.

“We’re really looking forward to Munster,” said a jubilant Kilmurry Ibrickane manager Micheal McDer- mott minutes after the final whistle. ‘““Kilmurry have a great tradition in Munster, they were in a final in the early 90 and then they won it the last time they came out of Clare in 2004. That’s the aim for this team. We’ll enjoy the next few days and then start focussing on the next game. That’s what we’ve done with all games this year. It’s been from one game to the next.”

You believe McDermott, except you think that the celebrations back in the barony of Ibrickane might last longer than just a few days.

They’ll last for the week.

SCARIFF native Margaret Hoey, could teach us all a thing or two about recessions, depressions and upswings.

Margaret celebrated her 105th birth- day, and enjoyed cutting her cake to share with family and friends while doling out a dose of common sense about the budget which was an- nounced the same day.

On hand to help her blow out the candles were five children, 15 grand- children and 11 great-grandchildren.

The secret to her long life, she be- lieves is to “forget about yourself and live away”.

The spry pensioner like watching sport on TV, particularly hurling and rugby and she keeps abreast of cur- KS) 01 MEAN BEAD BuCe

Margaret’s take on one the harshest budgets in her lifetime is that there was too much money being flung around anyway.

Margaret has lived through world events that most have only read about in the history books, including the hard times that the State suffered

during the Anglo-Irish economic war of the 1930s. Born in 1903, the year St Patrick’s Day was made a na- tional holiday, she has lived through the sinking of the Titanic, the end of British rule in most of Ireland, the roll-out of electricity, two world wars, the advent of television, eight Irish Presidents and the rise and de- cline of the Celtic Tiger.

The native of Poulnagower, Scar- iff, believes that much of the coun- try’s current woes stem from the fact that “everyone is too well paid..the salaries and wages are too high for a

small country and the borrowing is too much for people these days with their big empty homes. We just can’t afford it. The good days didn’t last long, it wasn’t permanent,” she said.

Sr Christine Murphy of the Carrig- oran nursing home where Margaret is currently resident, described her as “‘a true lady and an inspiration to Oe

NOT many selectors can claim to have been involved in team that have won county championships at minor, junior ‘B’, intermediate and senior. John Hickey is one of the few, if not the only one. The Kerryman, who has been long since domiciled in Ennis has all these successes to his footballing CV. Indeed, Sunday’s intermediate success means that the

only titles of note outstanding are the under 21 and junior ‘A’ titles. And, he came close to the junior ‘A’ in ’96 when the Townies were beaten in the county final by St Senan’s, Kilkee. aU Umea mm eee mer: ttm ata e Eire Og — he guided the minors to back-to-back titles in 1992 and 93, the junior ‘B’ team to championship glory in ’95, while he won the senior championship in 2000.

That senior title was achieved in

tandem with Dave Loughman (who led Clarecastle to intermediate suc- cess in 1998), while Kilmihil’s Noel Normoyle was a selector. Eight years on he greeted this latest success with the same enthusiasm as all the other wins, even if he was keen to heap praise on others.

“I was only tagging on. It was Dave and Mick who did all the work,’ he said. “Really I was only tagging on with this team,” he added.

Shrewd judges will tell you oth- erwise — Hickey was a vital cog in Kilmihil’s 2008 machine, patrolling the line, knocking heads with Dave Loughman, Mick Darby and com- pany as Kilmihil tried desperately to break free of Michael Cusacks’ dogged challenge.

“It was a great game to be involved in,’ he reflected, “because anytime you get into a final and win is great. This game was in the balance up un-

til the last kick of the game. Michael Cusack’s battled very hard and we knew they would. But we battled as well and it was a great team per- formance. It takes 15 to 18 players, it could have been 20, to win any final. There was a circle there of about 26 to 28 players. They won it.” John Hickey played his part too.

BUSINESS representatives in Shan- non and Ennis have expressed seri- ous concern for the staff at Aer Lin- gus who may lose their jobs and for the fall-out that this would cause in the region.

The President of Shannon Cham- ber of Commerce, Ian Barrett has warned that any further dilution of Aer Lingus services from Shannon could have dire consequences for trade and business activity in the re- gion.

Ian Barrett said that business had already suffered from the withdraw- al of the Shannon Heathrow service.

Barrett, who also works for Shan- non based company Avocent, said “we have noticed a significant reduc- tion in the amount of business travel and the number of Chief Executives coming through Shannon since the end of the Heathrow service’.

“We would be hoping that there would be no further reduction in services. Reports that transatlantic services are at risk are worrying. A development like that could possibly have a significant adverse affect on Foreign Direct Investment”.

“We would be hoping that Aer Lin- gus would be planning on maintain- ing or increasing their services from Shannon”, the chamber president added.

Barrett said that developments such as the new CityJet route from Shan- non to Paris were welcome, but that Heathrow remained the “centre of fey svaleel mars Aare

“If you’re in business then Hea- throw remained the main hub. The Paris route has been a positive devel- opment.”

Ennis Chamber of Commerce CEO, Rita McInerney, said that the Cham- ber “is very dissapointed with what is going on in terms of the staff who

have given so much to the company and because Shannon is bearing the brunt of these cuts.”

She added that it is “very worrying from a business prospective what is to happen to the transatlantic serv- ice.

It is so vital to the international businesses based here. The air- port has been left with such a skel- eton staff and so little back-up that if something goes wrong a service could be cancelled and that could lead to it being withdrawn down the line. The airport is doing sterling work trying to get new routes and services into Shannon and they don’t jaCeXox MMOD Ecer-T ROO TOM ODO bl omie

has learned that garda management have pledged to put additional garda resources in place in an effort to tackle the prob- lem and clamp down on travelling om enebett vice Conmen, posing as businessmen, are pushing their way into people’s

homes and getting their hands on THON oA

They are especially targeting eld- erly men or women living alone in rural areas in the Turlough/Belhar- bour/Newquay area.

In one incident, an elderly man was robbed of thousands of euro after a man pretending to be a television re- pair man called to his home.

A Dublin man in his 40s was ar- rested and questioned in connection with this incident. A file has been sent to the DPP.

In another incident, a man in his 60s was struck twice by a conman who called to his house and demand-

ed money from him. He claimed he was a medical doctor.

That matter is actively being inves- tigated. No-one has been arrested in connection with that incident.

Ennistymon Superintendent Gabri- el O’Gara is warning that conmen are travelling around the area. He said while the problem “is not rampant”, there have been worrying incidents in recent weeks.

“It is very isolated up there. No doubt about it, it is because of the ge- ographic location. They are looking for isolated places. They are picking their targets. We are trying to get more patrols up there,” he said.

“If anybody is calling around pre- tending to be a doctor or health of- ficial, don’t let them pass the front door until they show identification. Do not entertain any of these peo- ple,” said Supt O’Gara.

He is encouraging people living in rural areas to engage in community alert programmes.

“Report anything suspicious. If you are unsure about someone, pick up the phone and ring your local garda,” he said.

Gardai in north Clare are also in- vestigating a spate of thefts from cars and break-ins to holiday homes in the Ballyvaughan area in recent weeks.

WHILE most people are pushing Christmas to the back of the agenda, a Tulla woman is already thinking toys and wrapping paper for children who may receive just one gift in the entire year and that gift will be from east Clare.

Jackie Vaughan has been a volun- teer with the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Appeal for the last five years and she’s urging people of east Clare to put in a massive effort to send more shoeboxes than ever this year to children who have nothing.

“It’s such a personal thing. People pack boxes with lovely things for an individual child. Many of these chil- dren have nothing. They are cold and hungry, they may be orphans, this gift of love is more often than not the only Christmas present they will get,’ said Jackie.

This is the tenth year of the appeal itself and last year in east Clare, gen- erous souls wrapped scores of boxes for children in far-flung places from Africa to Eastern Europe.

Operation Christmas Child is a project organised under the auspices of the Samaritan’s Purse organisa-

tion but no child of any ethnic back- ground or religious persuasion 1s ever CALE Core w

The aim is to fill a shoebox with a cuddly teddy or toy, sweets other than chocolate, crayons, colouring books, and a something small to wear, like gloves, a scarf or hat.

Each box is filled for a boy or girl with a specific age-group in mind.

Jackie particularly hopes that the 10-14 year olds will get lots of boxes from east Clare this year.

“It’s a group that don’t get as many boxes as the other age groups and it’s also important to remember that a

lot of the two to four year olds are orphans, living in institutions where there aren’t a lot of staff so there’s a need to be extra careful about not putting in toys that have small piec- es that children might put in their mouths,’ said Jackie.

Jackie added that anyone who doesn’t have time or who has dif- ficulty putting a box together and wrapping it can make a donation.

Jackie will arrange collection of the boxes from factories and schools. Call her on 065 6835715 for leaflets which include full details of what can be included in the box.

NINE sports clubs from Clare have submitted applications for this year’s Texaco Sportstars Bursaries. The clubs, whose names are not revealed, are amongst a record 422 clubs from all of the 32 counties to enter the event.

Highest entry came from Dublin

(90) followed by Cork (45) and An- trim (41). Other high entries came from Down (29), Galway (27), Lim- erick (18), Kerry (16), Wicklow (12), Kildare, Wexford and Armagh (10 each). Of the total, 23 percent of ap- plications came from clubs in North- ern Ireland with all of the six coun- ties represented.

Some 51 sporting disciplines were

represented amongst the applica- tions received. Soccer clubs made up the largest number (72) followed by GAA (54), basketball (32), hockey and swimming (29 each), athletics (24), rugby (20), special needs and boxing (13 each), rowing and sailing (12 each) and camogie (10). Of the remainder, American football, ice hockey, diving, volleyball and canoe-

ing were amongst the minority sports represented.

Now in its second year, over €120,000 has been set aside for the scheme from which a total of 25 sports clubs stand to benefit – 20 from the Republic of Ireland and five from Northern Ireland. Open to sports clubs of all kind, bursaries will be distributed to clubs in the Republic

of Ireland in amounts of €5,000 each and to clubs in Northern Ireland in amounts of Stg£3,500 each.

AUG Rsanetsap Rel ba ces td bMRU EAC Co MAU NARUTO der the chairmanship of former RTE sports producer, Michael O’Carroll. Winners will be announced and pre- sented with their awards at a ceremo- ny to be held in Dublin on Wednes- day, October 29.

THERE was at least one wag in Hen- nessy Memorial Park on Sunday — wag in the sense of the dictionary meaning of the word that is (he or she who gossips about something as opposed to wives or girlfriends).

This wag spoke about the Kilmihil backroom team for 2008. He was ob- viously in Michael Cusacks’ corner because when leaving the ground after the ballgame was over he re- marked: “look at them, they’re like the League of Nations with who they have over them”.

Of course, it’s not the first time that the term has been used in Clare — they said it about the famous Ennis

Faughs team of the 1940s and ‘50s; they even said it about the last Lis- cannor team to win a senior champi- onship in 1940.

And, it’s true that the Kilmihil backroom team takes in a few differ- ent counties. Manager Mick Darby is an Offaly man; trainer/coach Dave Loughman is Cork; his sidekick John Hickey is Kerry.

Tommy Lyons, not to be con- fused with the Mayoman of Offaly and Dublin renown is Moneypoint man like Darby. That leaves local man Michael Keating – the veteran of many a battle for Kilmihil. You know where the disgruntled Michael Cusack’s man got his League of Na- tions from though.

It was very harsh though — Darby is as much Kilmihil as Rhode in Of- faly. Anyway, it’s the players out on the field that won this county final on the day, not the coalition of far-flung football minds off it.

Darby said as much as everyone around him started to celebrate. ““We started training on January 8. We have ten months done at this stage. All credit to the players. They put a fantastic effort in all year. This 1s their they day, they have been abso- lutely brilliant.

“They bonded hugely. They were going to stay working together for each other as a unit. They weren’t go- ing to lie down.

“The big thing that wins final is

character and I think the players showed a lot of that out there today,” he added.

Sure, it was too close for comfort near the end as Cusack’s ate into Kilmihil’s four-point lead, but ac- cording to Darby it was never going to be any other way.

“There was very little in it. It was very close. It was a dour battle and a battle all the way. The football was heavy going — there was nothing free, nothing easy given and we were just lucky to come out of it in the end.

“Cusack’s don’t give up. I said it during the week. They battled with 14 men against Clondegad. We knew this was never going to be over until the last whistle. They were going to

be fighting right to the end.”

And, what of the future, after an intermediate title was brought to the parish for the first time since Caher- murphy won the title 50 years ago. Senior for 2009; back to where eve- ryone in Kilmihil feels they belong.

‘I hope they set a standard for our club for the future,” said Darby. “To even have a chance of success that’s the standard that has to be main- tained and nothing less will do. Be- fore today we were trying to hammer home to them that in the last two years we’ve been together for about five and a half months in total. That’s a huge effort and it was worth every bit of it to win. This is a day these lads will never forget.”